Gage-indicator.



P. M. FRERE.

GAGE INDIQATOR. APPLIGATION 'HLBD 11011.20, 1911" Patented Apr. 1

PATENT :PHELPS M. FREER, OF DETROIT, MIGHIGIL GAGE-INDICATOR.

' Specification of Lettersratent.- Apinieation' mea' November so, 1911.

serial no. esiste.

To all whom-t may concern.:

Beit known that- I, PHELPS M. FREER, a citizen of the United States,residing at, Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of 'Michigan,.have* invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Gage-Indicators,of which'the following is a full, clear,`

l and exact description."

l .which isalways in fairvlewgandit consists' l liquid are followed by afloat whose vertical This invention relates to gage indicatorsIspecially adapted for usev in storage tanks forliquids to constantlyindicate vthe amount of liquid vtherein by means of a pointer movableacross .the face of a graduated dial,

elements v whereby the surface of the of a combination of changes 1nelevation. of

movements are transformed into the transverse vibrating movements of an'indicating l -In many respects this lnvention is quite similar to theautomatic; gage shownl inl* Letters Patent N o. 854,481, granted, May21,3v 1907to the same inventor,vand..it isfan im@l provement on thatdevice designed to over come someobjections discoveredin its use@ IntheA drawing which-discloses forms of Vthe invention now considered most-desirable though itis not intended to confine 'the in-' vention to theprecise forms shown,f or any1 of-thn, Figure 1 is a vertical'centralsec-,fy tion through a tank provided with a -re-J movablecover'to whichthe indicating de v vice is attached,- depending from this vsupportdowninto the tank `as nearly asprac-v ticable 'to the bottom thereof. Fig. 21s a ,horizontal section throu hv'parts of the device, the section beingta enonfthe line 2, 2 of' Fig. vI|`: ig."3ji's aside elevation of thelower 'end of .the supporting rod Irlo'rt'liefintdicator and of otherparts associated there-l with. yFig. 4 is a vertical section of portions of a tank with'a modification ofthe indicating device, shown inelevation, suspended therein. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section of the sameon the line 5, 5 of -Fig. I4.

' Fig. 6 is a plan sect-ion' of another modifi'cation, in which the oatis guided by'a phirality of guide members engaging its edge,

instead of by a single guide rod .passing .through a central aperture,as shown in preceding figures.

The tank A may beof any desired 'shape and size, ,and itisupreferably'provided vwith v Patented. Apr. 151mg.

a .removable coverl or capB secured by 'screw threads fb tank and isclosed at its topv by a 'transparent or by any other suitable means. Thecap is preferably provided with a ver-l tical-neck B which opensatbottominto the Vplate of glassgor other suitable material bfseated in a liquidtight joint. In the- "below the glSS Closure is a graduated'fgg-l-'ord-m1 gage C 0f any suii:able'f0m-;ghat

vthrough' g the may be easily seen'and .read

In the drawing this is shown glass cover.

as a vertical plate vprovided with" suitablei grfiduations' in front of`pointer may move. -Or' it may consist, as

horizontal plate or diaphra provided with `a cross slot through W ichthe free end of the pointer extendsand lmoves past or overgraduation'marks at one or both, sides-of theslot. A.As far asd'esciibed there is nothin'gjof'special novelty in this over theprior'devi'ce. f. l

Fi mly attached to and depending frtnh the 'removable cover is astraight rigidrod D which extends nearly to thev bottom of the tank-andhas at y lgs e, e between which'is mountedone-end of an indicatingmember `F free -to swing through pin e but held against side play by thenice fit of its pivoted eind. On it might be held againstside play byhaving its upper free end guided by a slot in the dial plate as in -the,beforementioned fpatent;

l' A oat G either o hollow metal of 4 itsV lower end a rigid horiizo'ntally extending fopt'pie'ce E provided .at its free end. with iwhich the gage I l@ 4shown 1n the ,prio-r patent referred to, of a i yanarc -on the pivot stantly-under its control. At or near a cen l sidehars f which are joined at their lower at their upper ends by .fanupward extension f4 2 Losser-i i any suitable buoyanty material ismounted to slide freely up or down. on the rod l). In its preferredtorni the indicating member y F is yoke shaped, beingcoinposed ot twomore simple construction than that shown in Figs. l, l and 3, and hassome point-s ot advantage thereover.

'in Fig. 6 is shown Vanother inodication in which a plurality otsupport-ing or guide rods D are einployed'in connection with a yokedindicator F like that ot Fig. l, and pi'votally mounted upon a toot E. irlhe Float lies within the space inclosed by two fixed guide rods on oneside and by the two ends by a cross bar f having a depending lug f2apertured for the pivot e and joined a cross `bar f3 having` whichconstitutes the pointer in front of the gage dial C. rlthe side bars ofthe indicator yoke are adapted to straddle with 'snug ht the peripheraledge side and in such gentle peripheral .contact ot the float in suchmanner as to be conwith all tour ott'hese elements that it will beguided in its verticalinoveinents by the bars f of' the yokedl indicatoron the ,other `ion iis

'tralline across the float the yoke bars may ixcd rods and willoscillate the indicator be- -embrace the periphery ot the float but, itthe tween whose bars f its periphery protrudes. yokeis positioned wellaway from such di- The two bars f ot the yoked indicator also rectcentral line, its bars may embrace the serve as guide rods to hold thefloat in its sides ofi two specially torrned peripheral fixed path andrestrain it from surging notches g, g in the edge ot the float as showntherefrom when the'` surface of. the liquid is in Fig. 2, so that thevindicator is under conagitated. V vstant control ot the ioat and ismoved posi- It will be `noticed that in all ot these artively-by it inboth directions -as the Hoat rangements thefloatis positively held andrisesorntalls with the surface of the liquidl .guided in a vertical pathby the supporting in the tank. l rod or rods from whichit cannot escape,The float moves in a direct vert-ical line and it is not therefore atliberty to be dashed on the guide'rod D and imparts a transverse aboutby any agitation or wave action. oi the swinging movement ot theindicator yoke. liquid. And it will be noticed further that It the-sidebars ot the' indicator were the tloat is so connected to the indicatorstraight the float would move it through a member that neither can bemoved indew greater arc when near the pivot of the indipendently of theother, their slidable con? cator than when more remote for any givennectio-n being such that the indicator is posi-y distance of movement otthe floatf. lt is contively controlled and swung on its pivot .bysidered desirable to have the indicator move "the reciprocating floatand therefore at all in uni-form ratio with the float and to etlecttiines giving a true and accuratel indication this result the side barsj ot the indicator of the quantity ot liquid in the tank.` are curved,as shown, thereby compensating Having thus ylescribed the invention, forthe otherwise arcual changes inV the what is claimed as new and usefulis movement of the indicator arising Jfrom the l. ln a tiuid gagevindicator, the combichanging leng'h or radius with the inovenation ot afixed 'upright guiding means, ya ment of the float. float suitablymounted upon said guiding Figs. a and 5 illustra-te a inod'itication ofmeans whereby the float/is held in-a` fixed the device in which theindicator member path ot indveinent, a meinber-e'ztendingsubconsists ofa single curved bar F pivotally stantially parall'e'lvwith the guidingmeans, mounted at its lower end to the toot piece Fi one end ot saidnieiiiber being pivotallyy sey extending from supporting rod D, andprocured adjacent the lower 'portion ot thel vided at its upper end witha pointer ft. guiding'ineans, the other end otsaid ineinrfhe float ismounted upony and guided b y `ber being tree to moveand swing in a giventhe rod D and at one side it has an eye g plane. 'there being 'asutiable connection bewhich. embraces the indicator rod and holds tweenthe float. andthe said swinging niemit in constant control. Fig. l issomewhat .ber whereby theino'veincnt of the said ineniy diagrammatic incharacter, the parts being ber is positivelycontrolled by theiioat.,.the shown in elevation in correct vert-ical relamovement of saidiioatl causingthe tree' portions without particular regard to their tionof the swinging member-to move ina transverse arrangement. its will bereadily substantially `linear direction. 3. understood by any skilledmechanic the Q: ln a fluid gage. indicator,theconibrvv pointer j", atthe upper end ot the indicator nation ofl iixed gui-dingineans, anIindicat-V F, cannot swing back in the saine plane as ingmemberpivotally supported at one end the guide rod l), and it istherefore proposed in proriiinity to the guiding means with a -to bendand offset the pointer fx sidevvise a fioat slidably mounted and held ina fixed path by said guiding means and having posif tive but slidableconnection with said indi cat-ing member whereby longitudinalinovcsutlicient distance to clear the rod il and then bend its endupwardly into parallel alinement with the member F. This is a ment ofthe float along the guiding means In testimony whereof, I hereunto affixwill cause the indicating member to swing signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

on its pivot the indicating member being 1 curved in itslength wherebyits free end has PHELPS 5 uniform oscillatory movement in propor-Witnesses:

tionate ratio to the sliding movement of the JOHN H. STEIN,

oat along the guiding means. LEONARD P. HOWARD.

